Systems and methods for remote validation

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods consistent with embodiments of the present invention provide for a method for remote data validation of shipment information. In some embodiments consistent with the present invention shipment information including at least one item identifier of an item in the shipment and at least one entity identifier of an entity associated with the item is captured by a remote unit and sent to a dispatcher with a request for validation. Entity identifiers in the received validation request are used to identify validators that are targets of dispatcher generated validation requests. Validators retrieve additional shipment information using item identifiers in the validation request received from the dispatcher and return a response based on degree to which information in the received request corresponds to stored information. In some embodiments consistent with the present invention, the dispatcher assimilates the received responses and relays the assimilated response to the remote unit.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Division of U.S. Ser. No. 10/985,779, filed Nov.9, 2004, titled “Systems and Methods for Remote Validation”, by inventorAndrea Mariotti, which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of physical distributionmanagement and in particular, to the remote validation of shipmentinformation.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

The shipment of goods from a manufacturer or retailer to a consumer mayinvolve several shipping agents. A primary shipping agent or shippingcompany may pick up goods at a manufacturer site, which may then behanded off to multiple third parties called carriers. Carriers travelwith a shipment for all or part of its journey to a final destination. Adocument, termed a bill of lading, describes each consignment of goodsthat is accepted by a carrier. Information derived from the bills oflading may be combined into a manifest that describes all the cargocarried on board a particular vehicle or vector (“vector”). The manifestmay be used by law enforcement agencies to ensure that the cargo in thevector matches information on the manifest. Law enforcement agencieswill often also check directly with the individual entities involvedwith the shipment to validate the shipment details described in themanifest such as the origin, destination, and nature of the goods and toget additional information that may not be provided in the manifest. Theneed to check directly with the individual entities arises because eachentity involved in the transportation of the shipment guards customerand operational information zealously from other entities involved inthe process. Thus, the manifest contains less information than a lawenforcement agency would typically require and often requires additionalverification before the shipment may be cleared. For example, a lawenforcement agency may want to verify and/or account for any deviationsfrom the typical route used by a carrier to ensure that a shipment isnot being diverted for unlawful purposes. Currently, such verificationis done through the use of traditional communication means such as overthe telephone or over police radio. The law enforcement agency officialcontacts an authorized representative at each of the various individualentities. The authorized representative can then respond to theofficial's request. The use of such traditional verification mechanismsincluding the need to interact with the representatives of multipleentities creates delays, decreases efficiency, and increases costs forall parties involved. Therefore, there is a need for a method to allowreliable efficient remote validation of shipment information whilepreserving the confidentiality of proprietary data that is released forlaw enforcement purposes.

Reliable efficient remote validation of shipment information wouldresult, inter alia, in enhanced transportation security and publicsafety, reduced wait times at inspection points due to faster processingby law-enforcement agencies, reduced lag times between order placementand fulfillment, increased utilization of vectors and greaterpredictability of shipment times and costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, systems and methods for remotevalidation are presented.

In some methods for remote data validation, shipment data is encoded andrecorded on a document or other media. In some embodiments consistentwith the present invention, recorded shipment data and other informationabout the shipment may be captured at a remote location. A portion ofthe captured information may be transmitted to individual entitiesassociated with the shipment. In some embodiments consistent with thepresent invention the shipment information may be captured andtransmitted electronically. Information received by the individualentities is compared with information about the shipment that may bestored in their respective individual repositories and a response isreturned to the remote requestor based on the results of the comparison.

These and other embodiments are further explained below with respect tothe following figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a remote data validation systemconsistent with some embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart describing the deployment of the RDVDispatcher according to some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart describing an exemplary system 300 fordeployment of the RDV Validator according to some embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart that traces the process flow for a remotevalidation request according to some embodiments of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with the present invention, methods and systems areprovided for remote data validation. Recorded shipment information alongwith other information that is captured at a remote inspection point issent to a dispatcher with a request for validation. In some embodimentsconsistent with the present invention, information received by thedispatcher is parsed and multiple validation requests are generated toindividual entities associated with the information received by thedispatcher. In some embodiments consistent with the present invention,each individual entity retrieves information associated with theshipment in response to the received validation request. A code sequenceis returned to the dispatcher by each individual entity based on thedegree to which information in the received request corresponds tostored information. In some embodiments consistent with the presentinvention, the dispatcher assimilates the received code sequences andrelays the assimilated code sequence to the remote unit.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system 100 for performing remote datavalidation according to the embodiments of the present invention. In thefigures, elements with similar functions are prefixed with the samenumeric identifier, and individual instances are identified with ahyphenated ordinal suffix. As shown in FIG. 1, system 100 consists of aRemote Data Validation (“RDV”) Unit 115 that may be deployed at RemoteCheckpoint 110. RDV Unit 115 may be, for example, a laptop, tabletcomputer, a handheld device, or other device capable of exchanginginformation with server 125-1 over network 175. In some embodiments,functions of RDV Unit 115 may be provided by partly or entirely bysoftware that configures existing hardware devices capable of exchanginginformation with server 125-1 over network 175. The exchange ofinformation over network 175 may be accomplished through a wired or awireless connection using conventional communication protocols and/ordata port interfaces. In general, any communication channel that allowstransmission of data between RDV Unit 115 and servers 125-1, 125-2, and125-3 including network channels and/or transfer of data betweenmachines on fixed storage media may be used to effect the exchange ofinformation. In some embodiments consistent with the present invention,information sent over network 175 may be encrypted to ensure thesecurity of the data being transmitted.

RDV Dispatcher 135 runs on Server 125-1 and can interact with Database140-1. In some embodiments consistent with the present invention Server125-1 may be situated, for example, at the site of Law EnforcementAgency site 120. In general, servers running RDV Dispatchers such as theexemplary Server 125-1 shown in FIG. 1 may be deployed at variouslocations in a manner to facilitate communications with RDV Units andwith other elements of the system over network 175, in accordance withsome embodiments of the invention. For example, RDV Dispatchers could bedeployed close to border crossing points, inspection stations, or aroundareas designated for heightened scrutiny by law enforcement agencies ina manner to facilitate communications with the RDV Units carried by lawenforcement officials. RDV Units may be pre-programmed with theinformation needed to communicate with RDV Dispatchers, or RDVDispatcher information may be obtained dynamically in response to arequest sent out by the RDV Unit. Database 140-1 may reside on Server125-1, which also contains removable media drives 130-1. In general,Database 140-1 may reside on any other server or computer that isconnected through network 175 to a server running the RDV Dispatcher,although for performance and efficiency reasons it may be moreadvantageous to have both RDV Dispatcher 135 reside on a single server.Removable media drives 130-1, 130-2 . . . 130-n may include, forexample, 3.5 inch floppy drives, CD-ROM drives, DVD ROM drives, CD±RW orDVD±RW drives, USB flash drives and/or any other removable media drivesconsistent with embodiments of the present invention.

Server 125-1 is also connected by network 175 to Server 125-2. In someembodiments consistent with the present invention Server 125-2 may besituated, for example, at the site of Vendor 150. In general, serversrunning RDV Validators such as the exemplary Server 125-2 shown in FIG.1 may be deployed at the locations of various entities associated withshipments, in a manner to facilitate communications over network 175with RDV Dispatchers and with other elements of the system, inaccordance with some embodiments of the invention. Database 140-2 mayreside on Server 125-2, which also contains removable media drives130-2. RDV Validator 160-2 runs on Server 125-2 and can interact withDatabase 140-2.

Server 125-3, containing removable media drives 130-3, is also connectedby network 175 to Server 125-1. In some embodiments consistent with thepresent invention Server 125-3 may be situated, for example, at the siteof Shipping Company 180. Exemplary RDV Validator 160-3 may run on Server125-3 and interact with exemplary Database 140-3. Database 140-3 mayalso be resident on server 125-3.

In general, an exemplary Database 140-n may reside on any server orcomputer that is able to communicate with its corresponding RDVValidator 160-n, although for performance and efficiency reasons it maybe more advantageous to have both the exemplary database 140-n and RDVValidator 160-n reside on a single server.

System 100 may also include other servers (not shown) that are connectedto network 175. These servers may have removable media drives anddatabases and run the RDV Dispatcher or the RDV Validator, asappropriate. Such servers may be located at various entities associatedwith shipment validation. System 100 may also include multiple RDV Unitsthat may be deployed at various inspection points. In some embodimentsconsistent with the present invention, some or all of the RDV Units andassociated inspection points may be mobile.

In some embodiments consistent with the present invention, shipment datarecorded on a manifest document or on other media is captured or enteredinto RDV Unit 115. In some embodiments consistent with the presentinvention, data may be captured directly by RDV Unit 115, for example,from shipment information encoded in a bar code or othermachine-readable form on the manifest. In some embodiments additionalinformation needed about the shipment and not provided by the manifestmay also be entered by an operator into RDV Unit 115. For example,information about the present physical location of a shipment, such as ahighway number and mile stop may be entered into the RDV Unit fortransmission to an RDV Dispatcher. This physical location informationmay then be communicated to an RDV Validator by the RDV Dispatcher, forvalidation against route information that may be available, for example,in a trucking company database. Shipment information, including at leastone “item identifier” identifying an item in the shipment and at leastone entity associated with the item, needing validation is sent from RDVUnit 115 to Server 125-1 over network 175.

In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, shipmentinformation received by server 125-1 from RDV Unit 115 may be parsed byRDV Dispatcher 135, to identify entities associated with the shipmentand/or to separate information in the received request into data fields.Exemplary entities associated with a shipment could include themanufacturer, or shipping company, or government agencies from whichclearances, such as export or import licenses, or licenses to carry ortransport hazardous materials, may be needed. RDV Dispatcher 135 mayalso query database 140-1 for missing information regarding entitiesassociated with the shipment information. For example, information suchas the network address of Servers 125-2 and 125-3 associated with Vendor150 and Shipping Company 180 respectively could be retrieved fromdatabase 140-1. In some embodiments consistent with the presentinvention, a validation request containing at least one field withinformation identifying an item in the shipment based on informationreceived by server 125-1 and/or gathered from database 140-1, may besent to servers 125-2 and 125-3 by RDV Dispatcher 135.

Information received by Vendor 150 on Server 125-2 from RDV Dispatcher135 is parsed by RDV Validator 160-2 to generate queries to database140-2, which contains shipment-related information including informationthat may not be available on the manifest carried by the vector. Dataretrieved from database 140-2 is compared with information in thevalidation request from Server 125-1 and a response is generated. Forexample, the generated response may indicate that some of theinformation in the RDV Validator database matches the data in thevalidation request and/or that some information in the RDV Validatordatabase does not match information in the validation request and/orthat RDV Validator database contains insufficient information to make acomparison. In some embodiments consistent with the present inventionthe response may be encoded in the form of a Return Code, which is sentto RDV Dispatcher 135 on Server 125-1 over network 175. Similarly,information contained in the validation request received by ShippingCompany 180 on Server 125-3 is processed by RDV Validator 160-3 usinginformation from database 140-3. A response to the validation request isgenerated by RDV Validator 160-3 based on shipment information retrievedfrom database 140-3 using the item identifier(s) and sent to RDVDispatcher on Server 125-1 over network 175. It should be noted thatentities associated with the shipment may also include, for example,government agencies from which export or import licenses, agricultural,health or safety clearances may need to be obtained. Accordingly, RDVValidators may be deployed at such agencies in a manner consistent withembodiments of the invention, to respond to requests originating fromRDV Units carried by law enforcement officials performing actualinspections and to ensure that needed clearances and/or licenses havebeen obtained.

RDV Dispatcher 135 combines the responses received from the RDVValidator Modules 160-2 and 160-3, and sends the combined response tothe RDV Unit 115. RDV Unit 115 can then display the combined response tothe operator.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart 200 describing the deployment of the RDVDispatcher. In step 210, a server, on which an RDV Dispatcher isinstalled, is booted up and connects to a network. In some embodimentsconsistent with the present invention, the server may be associated witha Law Enforcement Agency 120 and could be the exemplary server 125-1 ofFIG. 1. In some embodiments consistent with the present invention, RDVDispatcher could be the exemplary RDV Dispatcher 135 of FIG. 1. In step220, the server starts the RDV Dispatcher and broadcasts the server'saddress over the network, which could be exemplary network 175 ofFIG. 1. In some embodiments the address broadcast by the server could bethe network address and port number where incoming RDV data will beaccepted. Next, in step 230, the server receives incoming data. Theincoming data is categorized in step 235. If the incoming data iscategorized as a registration request from an RDV Validator, theregistration is processed in step 240. In some embodiments processingmay involve adding RDV Validator details to the server database, such asidentifying information including a network address and port number. Ingeneral, the format and composition of the identification informationmay be based upon an established or agreed upon protocol between the RDVDispatcher and RDV Validator. In some embodiments consistent with thepresent invention, the server database could be exemplary database 140-1of FIG. 1. If the incoming data is categorized as an RDV Unit shipmentvalidation request, it is parsed in step 255, to identify entities andcorresponding RDV Validators associated with the shipment and toseparate information in the received request into data fields. Theformat and composition of the data fields may be based upon anestablished or agreed upon protocol between the RDV Dispatcher and RDVValidator. One or more validation requests may then be sent toregistered RDV Validators associated with the shipment. In someembodiments consistent with the present invention, an Unknown EntityCode may be generated, if entities associated with the shipment are notregistered with the RDV Dispatcher and/or if they cannot be located inthe RDV Dispatcher database. In some embodiments consistent with thepresent invention, the registered RDV Validators could be the exemplaryRDV Validators 160-2 and 160-3 shown in FIG. 1. If the incoming data iscategorized as an RDV Validator response, then the response is combinedwith other responses to validation requests for a given shipment in step245. In step 250, the combined validation response is sent to therequesting RDV Unit. In some embodiments consistent with the presentinvention, the RDV Unit could be exemplary RDV Unit 115 of FIG. 1. TheRDV Dispatcher then returns to step 230, where it awaits additionalincoming data.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart describing a system 300 for deployment of theRDV Validator. In some embodiments, the RDV Validator could be either ofthe RDV Validators 160-2 or 160-3, as shown in FIG. 1. In step 310, aserver, on which an RDV Validator is installed, is booted up andconnects to a network, which could be exemplary network 175 shown inFIG. 1. In step 320, the RDV Validator is started and registers withevery RDV Dispatcher available for registering. In one embodiment,information identifying RDV Company Dispatchers available forregistration may be received over a network in response to aregistration information request broadcast by RDV Validator. In oneembodiment consistent with the present invention information about RDVDispatchers available for registration may be retrieved from a file. Insome embodiments, the RDV Dispatcher Modules available for registeringcould be additional instances of the exemplary RDV Dispatcher 135 ofFIG. 1. Next, in step 330, the RDV Validator awaits incoming validationrequests containing at least one item identifier and one shipmentidentifier. In some embodiments consistent with the present invention, avalidation request could contain multiple data fields corresponding tovarious aspects of an item that require validation. For example, datafields may contain information identifying the shipment such as ashipment identifier and a physical location identifier, such as ahighway number and mile stop. When shipment and item identifiers andphysical location information reaches an RDV Validator at, for example,a trucking company, the identifiers can be used to look up and verifyinformation regarding the shipment, as explained with respect to step340 below. In general, the information in the data fields and the formatof the data fields are not restricted by the example described above andmay correspond to any protocol established between the RDV Dispatchersand RDV Validators for generating and validating RDV requests.

In step 340, any validation requests received from RDV DispatcherModules are processed by querying a database such as the exemplarydatabase 140-3 of FIG. 1 and comparing information stored in database140-3 with information in the received validation request. In thetrucking company example described above, information such as the nextdestination of the shipment and the normal routes used by the truckingcompany for shipments to that destination can be correlated with thephysical location identifier and any deviations flagged. In someembodiments consistent with the present invention, some or all of theinformation in the data fields in a validation request may need to becompared with information stored in the database associated with the RDVValidator. For example, information in data fields in a validationrequest could be used by RDV Validators 165 and 165-3 to generatequeries to exemplary databases 140-2 and 140-3 respectively. In someembodiments consistent with the present invention, a single validationrequest may require the RDV Validator to generate multiple databasequeries to validate the information contained in some or all of the datafields. A response is returned in step 350 based on the results obtainedin step 340. For example, a code indicating a data match may begenerated when the information contained in a data field matchesinformation in the database. In the trucking company example above, amatch could be generated if the highway number and mile stop fall withinthe normal route followed by company trucks to the shipment destination.Conversely, a code indicating data mismatch may be generated when theinformation contained in a data field does not match informationcontained in the database. If the database has insufficient data tovalidate some of the information contained in the validation request,then a code indicating insufficient data may be generated. For example,a destination may not routinely be served by a trucking company so thatno route information pertaining to that destination may exist in theCompany Validator database. In such instances, a code indicatinginsufficient data may be generated. Thus, it may not be possible tocorrelate the physical location of the shipment with informationavailable to the trucking Company Validator. The responses to avalidation request may be as simple as a “Yes,” “No,” or “Maybe,” orthey may derived from parameters or rules stored in a “rule base” thatdetermine how the data retrieved in response to the validation requestshould be processed. For instance, in the trucking company exampledescribed above, a rule may be set to generate a response indicating aroute-physical location mismatch only when the physical location of theshipment deviates from the normal route by over 50 miles. In someembodiments consistent with the present invention, the codes generatedas a result of the various queries may be combined into a response orreturn code before being sent to an RDV Dispatcher. The RDV Validatorthen returns to step 330, where it awaits additional incoming requests.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart 400 that traces the process flow for a remotevalidation request. In step 410, data that is captured (captured orentered) in an RDV Unit, such as the exemplary RDV Unit 115 shown inFIG. 1, is encoded into a secure request envelope. For example, the datacould be the shipment identifier and/or the physical location identifierof a shipment. The secure request envelope allows the encapsulated databeing transmitted to be protected from eavesdropping or alteration whilein transit. Next, in step 415, the RDV Unit attempts to contact an RDVDispatcher and exchange authentication information. In some embodimentsconsistent with the present invention, the RDV Dispatcher could beexemplary RDV Dispatcher 135 of FIG. 1. The authentication procedureensures that both the RDV Unit and the RDV Dispatcher are part of thesame validation network. For example, on one hand authentication ensuresthat unauthenticated RDV Units will not be able to receive confidentialinformation contained in a response to a validation request regarding ashipment. On the other hand, authentication ensures that onlyauthenticated RDV Dispatchers receive a validation request sent by a RDVUnit. The result of the authentication process is evaluated in step 420.If the authentication has failed, an error is returned in step 425 andthe authentication process must be retried. In some embodimentsconsistent with the present invention, an RDV Unit or an RDV Dispatchermay be locked-out or blocked if there are repeated authenticationfailures. If the authentication is successful, the data sent by the RDVUnit is decoded by the RDV Dispatcher, in step 430. Next, in step 435,the RDV Dispatcher identifies the entities associated with a shipment.For example, information about the entities may be retrieved by queryinga database, such as the exemplary database 140-1 shown in FIG. 1. Theseentities could include, for example, the manufacturer of a shipment, thetrucking company, or other carrier transporting the shipment, or atrans-shipment warehousing company. A determination about theregistration status of the entities associated with a shipment is madein step 440. If the entities are not registered or are not found in thedatabase then an “Unknown Entity” code may be sent to the RDV Unit instep 445. If the entity is registered, the RDV Dispatcher attempts tocontact the RDV Validator associated with the entity using contactinformation stored in the database. For example, these could be the RDVValidator Modules 160-1 or 160-2 associated with Vendor 150 or ShippingCompany 180 respectively, as shown in FIG. 1. In step 450, the result ofattempts to reach RDV Validators is recorded. For RDV Validators thatcan be reached, a validation request is sent out by the RDV Dispatcherand responses to these validation requests received from the RDVValidators are collected in step 460. If an RDV Validator is unreachablean “Entity Unreachable” code is generated in step 455. In step 465, theRDV Dispatcher uses the information received from the RDV Unit todetermine if there are additional items related to the shipment thatneed to be processed. If additional items remain, the RDV Dispatcherreturns to step 435. If all items have been processed then, in step 470,the RDV Dispatcher assembles and encodes all the return codes receivedfrom the RDV Validators related to a shipment into a secure envelope andsends these to the requesting RDV Unit in step 470. The RDV Unit thendisplays the received codes to the operator in step 475.

Further, methods consistent with embodiments of the invention mayconveniently be implemented using program modules, hardware modules, ora combination of program and hardware modules. Such modules, whenexecuted, may perform the steps and features disclosed herein, includingthose disclosed with reference to the exemplary flow charts shown in thefigures. The operations, stages, and procedures described above andillustrated in the accompanying drawings are sufficiently disclosed topermit one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention.Moreover, there are many computers and operating systems that may beused in practicing embodiments of the instant invention and, therefore,no detailed computer program could be provided that would be applicableto these many different systems. Each user of a particular computer willbe aware of the language, hardware, and tools that are most useful forthat user's needs and purposes.

The above-noted features and aspects of the present invention may beimplemented in various environments. Such environments and relatedapplications may be specially constructed for performing the variousprocesses and operations of the invention, or they may include ageneral-purpose computer or computing platform selectively activated orreconfigured by program code to provide the necessary functionality. Theprocesses disclosed herein are not inherently related to any particularcomputer or other apparatus, and aspects of these processes may beimplemented by any suitable combination of hardware, software, and/orfirmware. For example, various general-purpose machines may be used withprograms written in accordance with teachings of the invention, or itmay be more convenient to construct a specialized apparatus or system toperform the required methods and techniques.

Embodiments of the present invention also relate to compute-readablemedia that include program instructions or program code for performingvarious computer-implemented operations based on the methods andprocesses of embodiments of the invention. The program instructions maybe those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of theinvention, or they may be of the kind well known and available to thosehaving skill in the computer software arts. Examples of programinstructions include, for example, machine code, such as produced by acompiler, and files containing a high-level code that can be executed bythe computer using an interpreter.

Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled inthe art from consideration of the specification and practice of theembodiments of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that thespecification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a truescope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the followingclaims. As such, the invention is limited only by the following claims.

1. A computer-implemented method of deploying a validation system for remotely validating shipment data, the method comprising: deploying at least one dispatcher capable of communicating with at least one data capture unit and at least one validator; deploying, at an inspection point along a route, the at least one data capture unit, wherein the at least one data capture unit is configured to: capture the shipment data related to an item being shipped, the shipment data comprising an item identifier of the item in the shipment and the at least one validator's identifier, and request, via the at least one dispatcher, validation of the captured shipment data from the at least one validator; and deploying the at least one validator, wherein the at least one validator is configured to: receive the validation request from the at least one data capture unit via the at least one dispatcher, retrieve additional shipment information of the item based on the captured shipment data, generate a response to the validation request based on a comparison between the retrieved additional shipment information and the validation request, and send, via the at least one dispatcher, the generated response to the at least one data capture unit for displaying and/or storing.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein deploying the at least one dispatcher capable of communicating with at least one data capture unit and at least one validator further comprises: starting the dispatcher; broadcasting information identifying the dispatcher; receiving incoming requests; and processing the incoming requests.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein broadcasting information identifying the dispatcher includes information to enable communication with the dispatcher.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein broadcasting information identifying the dispatcher includes network address and/or port information for communication with the dispatcher.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein processing the incoming requests further comprises one or more of the steps of: processing data capture unit registration requests; processing validator registration requests; processing validation requests; and processing validation responses.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein processing data capture unit registration requests comprises: identifying the data capture unit requesting registration; authenticating the registration request; adding at least one identifier corresponding to the data capture unit to a database, if the registration request can be authenticated; and returning an error, if the registration request cannot be authenticated.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein adding at least one identifier corresponding to the data capture unit to a database further includes adding network address and/or port information for communication with the data capture unit to the database.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 wherein processing validator registration requests comprises: identifying the validator requesting registration; authenticating the registration request; adding at least one identifier corresponding to the validator to a database, if the registration request can be authenticated; and returning an error, if the registration request cannot be authenticated.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein adding at least one identifier corresponding to the validator to a database further includes adding a network address and/or port information for communication with the validator to the database.
 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein processing validation requests comprises: identifying the data capture unit requesting validation of captured shipment data wherein the shipment data includes at least one item identifier of an item in the shipment and at least one previous handler's identifier of the item; authenticating the validation request; retrieving validator information from a database corresponding to the at least one previous handler's identifier contained in the validation request, if the validation request is authentic; transmitting the validation request to retrieved validators corresponding to the at least one previous handler's identifier, if the validation request is authentic; and returning an error to the data capture unit, if the validation request cannot be authenticated.
 11. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein processing validation responses comprises: receiving validation responses from individual validators in response to a previously transmitted validation request; and combining the validation responses associated with a specific validation request from a data capture unit into a combined validation response; transmitting the combined validation response to the data capture unit.
 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein deploying, at an inspection point along a route, the at least one data capture unit capable of communicating with the dispatcher comprises: starting the data capture unit; broadcasting data capture unit identification information; receiving dispatcher information in response to the broadcast data capture unit identification information; registering with at least one of the dispatchers; and storing the received dispatcher information.
 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the data capture unit identification information includes information needed to communicate with the data capture unit.
 14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein information needed to communicate with the data capture unit includes network address and/or port information.
 15. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein deploying at least one validator capable of communicating with the dispatcher comprises: broadcasting validator identification information; receiving dispatcher information in response to the broadcast validator module identification information; registering with at least one of the dispatchers; and storing the received dispatcher information.
 16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the validator identification information includes information needed to communicate with the validator.
 17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein information needed to communicate with the validator includes network address and/or port information.
 18. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the at least one validator is a previous handler of the item being shipped.
 19. A tangible computer-readable medium that stores instructions, which when executed by a computer perform steps in a method for deployment of a data validation system for remotely validating shipment data, the steps being chosen from a set comprising at least one of: deploying at least one dispatcher capable of communicating with at least one data capture unit and at least one validator, wherein the at least one dispatcher is configured to: receive the shipment data captured by the at least one data capture unit, wherein the captured shipment data is related to an item being shipped and comprises at least one item identifier of the item in the shipment and the at least one validator's identifier; request validation of the captured shipment data from the at least one validator, wherein the validation request is originated from the at least one data capture unit; obtain a response to the validation request from the at least one validator, wherein the response is generated by the at least one validator based on a comparison between the validation request and additional shipment information retrieved from the at least one validator based on the captured shipment data; and send the obtained response to the at least one data capture unit; deploying, at an inspection point along a route, the at least one data capture unit, wherein the at least one data capture unit is configured to: capture the shipment data; and request, via the at least one dispatcher, the validation of the captured shipment data from the at least one validator; receive, via the at least one dispatcher, the response to the validation request from the at least one validator; and display and/or store the received response; or deploying the at least one validator, wherein the at least one validator is configured to: receive the validation request from the at least one data capture unit via the at least one dispatcher; retrieve the additional shipment information of the item based on the captured shipment data; generate the response to the validation request based on a comparison between the retrieved additional shipment information and the validation request; and send, via the at least one dispatcher, the generated response to the at least one data capture unit.
 20. A computer processor executing instructions that perform steps in a method for deployment of a data validation system, the steps being chosen from a set comprising at least one of: deploying at least one dispatcher capable of communicating with at least one data capture unit and at least one validator, wherein the at least one dispatcher is configured to: receive the shipment data captured by the at least one data capture unit, wherein the captured shipment data is related to an item being shipped and comprises at least one item identifier of the item in the shipment and the at least one validator's identifier; request validation of the captured shipment data from the at least one validator, wherein the validation request is originated from the at least one data capture unit; obtain a response to the validation request from the at least one validator, wherein the response is generated by the at least one validator based on a comparison between the validation request and additional shipment information retrieved from the at least one validator based on the captured shipment data; and send the obtained response to the at least one data capture unit; deploying, at an inspection point along a route, the at least one data capture unit, wherein the at least one data capture unit is configured to: capture the shipment data; and request, via the at least one dispatcher, the validation of the captured shipment data from the at least one validator; receive, via the at least one dispatcher, the response to the validation request from the at least one validator; and display and/or store the received response; or deploying the at least one validator, wherein the at least one validator is configured to: receive the validation request from the at least one data capture unit via the at least one dispatcher; retrieve the additional shipment information of the item based on the captured shipment data; generate the response to the validation request based on a comparison between the retrieved additional shipment information and the validation request; and send, via the at least one dispatcher, the generated response to the at least one data capture unit. 